All information in this article is for educational purposes only.

It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

This additive is salty and savory just like MSG. It is found in many of the same foods as MSG. The chemical name is Ribonucleotide, and often the reaction people get from eating it is an extremely itchy, irritable rash which we call the ‘Ribo Rash.’

If you think seaweed crackers are healthy, you are wrong!!
If you think flavored tofu is healthy, you are wrong!!

We are being poisoned slowly by these additives. People from all over the world are being affect by intolerances and allergies to food additives more than ever before. It is so important to eat a diet that is natural, whole and pure.

This additive, can be ANY of the following 3 names or numbers on a food label and they are universal, i.e. the same in every country in the world:

Ribonucleotide – #635 – E635

Disodium Guanylate – #627 – E627

Disodium Inosinate – #631 – E631

It is often used in combination with MSG, monosodium glutamate or #621.

Jennifer Thompson has been working with raw food, juices, smoothies and detox for over two decades to help people heal. Today, she shares her expertise worldwide, offering lectures, workshops, training and one-on-one consultations at various health and detox retreat centers. She provides Iridology Readings & Health Coaching via Skype and Phone to clients and continues to educate, motivate and inspire others on their journey of healing. When she’s not working, you’ll find her hiking in the mountains, power-walking along the sea or globe-trotting to a new and exotic health destination.

Thank you very much for this informative information. I am currently suffering from exactly what looks like you had as well. My skin is severely inflamed, and I wasn’t sure what was causing it. But the past few days I’ve been eating fantastic rice crackers from Australia that both contain E627 and E631.

I’ve had eczema since I was four and my parents have always been extremely careful with my diet. Over the past year, I have eliminated gluten and most dairy products, and it seems to have alleviated a lot of my symptoms. However, it hasn’t completely eliminated my eczema.

Besides chemical additives and flavor enhancers and fake sugars that you avoid in general, are there any other foods that you would recommend avoiding?

I hope you are feeling better soon! You asked what other foods to avoid. In terms of rashes and skin problems, many people can have normal food intolerances in addition to food additive intolerances. That’s something that we have to work out individually.

In general, I advise to always choose to WHOLE food version whenever possible. For example, choose a fresh young green coconut instead of coconut sugar or coconut aminos. Choose organic edamame beans instead of soy milk, soy yogurt or soy flour. Choose whole organic peas instead of hydrolyzed pea protein. Choose fresh spices such as fresh rosemary, lemongrass, mint, parsley, coriander or dill. Choose whole organic brown rice instead or rice flour or rice crackers. The more you eat the whole food version, the more you are getting the most natural form of food there is. That’s what our bodies know as “food.” I hope that helps and good luck!

I just want to know if what I’m having is ribo rash. After eating Chinese food around six I went to bed around 8 and woke up between 3-4 vomiting and I have small red dots around my face and eyes. I haven’t been able to keep food down for the whole day (26 hours total now) and my joints are killing me. When I was younger my parents thought I had a gluten intolerance, but that wasn’t the case. Also I have severe cramping in my torso all over, not on my cycle. If this is so, is there anything I can eat that I won’t throw up? Tried toast, but that came up after about 2 hours.

I can’t say for sure if you are having a reaction like the ribo rash, but I can tell you that in my personal experience I have had all of your symptoms when having a reaction to the ribo rash additives. Everything you describe – including the red dots, pain in the joints and even vomiting – I have also experienced. When it used to happen to me (now no longer does because I avoid those foods – Chinese food would be a complete disaster for me and is something I have not eaten in more than 12 years), I would take 4-6 Activated Charcoal capsules with a small glass of water immediately upon realized that I got “hit.” Then I would wait 20-30 minutes and re-assess how I feel. If still feeling itchiness, pain or nausea I take another 4-6 capsules with water. During that time, I will not eat any other food to allow the charcoal to completely absorb the bad stuff. Even if it was food poisoning, the charcoal will help for that too…although with bacterial food poisoning I would never get red bumps or an itchy rash.

The charcoal always helped me to reduce the impact of the additives because it can absorb the chemical additives. After 2 hours of feeling better, I may eat some organic banana just to settle my stomach. And then more fresh fruits in the next 24 hours to help the colon move out all the food (and charcoal – on that note it does turn the poo black). I would never take charcoal every day because it will also absorb the nutrition from food. I now use it for a remedy to deal with my food additive intolerances in cases where I didn’t know that something bad was in the food. It’s rare these days that I need to take it, maybe a few times a year…but I always have it on hand for the times when I may need it.

Riboflavin is not Ribonucleotide and should not cause a Ribonuceotide-induced rash. It’s important to track what you are eating for up to 24-36 hours BEFORE the onset of your rash since many times there is a delayed reaction and another food coming into play. In your case, you may also have to look at a normal intolerance to sunflower (a fairly common allergen) as I know you mentioned having a cracker with that ingredient in your email to me. If taking out sunflower and looking at ALL foods in a reasonable timeframe doesn’t show improvement, then the next step would be to consider heavy metal toxicity and look at doing some detox in that area, but I would not know for sure without doing an iridology assessment. Hope that helps and many blessings to your health!

Riboflavin is not Ribonucleotide and should not cause a Ribonuceotide-induced rash. It’s important to track what you are eating for up to 24-36 hours BEFORE the onset of your rash since many times there is a delayed reaction and another food coming into play. In your case, you may also have to look at a normal intolerance to sunflower (a fairly common allergen) as I know you mentioned having a cracker with that ingredient in your email to me. If taking out sunflower and looking at ALL foods in a reasonable timeframe doesn’t show improvement, then the next step would be to consider heavy metal toxicity and look at doing some detox in that area, but I would not know for sure without doing an iridology assessment. Hope that helps and many blessings to your health!

Thank you so much for this information. I have been struggling for the past year (at least) with insane rashes, swelling, numbness in extremeties and inflammation. I have an allergy to MSG, so now I know what else to be avoiding. I was at the end of my rope with this so can’t wait to see if avoiding these additatives has an impact. Definitely considering raw foods as a new way of eating. A few years back I was getting terrible migraines and a week long juice diet seemed to resolve symptoms, wonder if this was the culprit all along. Looking on Google at people’s rashes it looks the same (and I’ve been looking at a lot of different conditions rash types trying to figure what is happening to me). What tipped me off to it being a food allergy is after eating certain foods the existing rashes got more inflammed/itchy/burning. Going Gluten and Lactose free didn’t help (much), I was still eating (albeit less of) these nasty 600’s (sure enough going through my cupboards there’s a ton of food with them in it). Will try post back in a few weeks and let others who may find this later know if this helped. Would be interesting to know if people from Australia/NZ are more susceptible since this is where the main info seems to be coming from (Immanuel originally from NZ but been in the USA for a number of years now). I also have a genetic predisposition to gout would be interesting to know if that plays a role also. Again thank you, this is the first thing I’ve found that seems promising to resolving this inflammatory nightmare.

Thanks for sharing your story and I wish you much luck and healing in your road to recovery! I have not seen that people in NZ/AU are more susceptible to this; rather they are just more open to consider food additives being an actual chemical that can cause real damage. In the USA/Europe people are much more brain-washed to believe everything that a person in a white coat says, including that it’s just “all in your head” and you need to take anti-depressants for the rest of your life. (I have heard hundreds of stories just like that, sadly.)

In terms of gout, it’s the issue of elevated uric acids levels which of course is a metabolic waste. These particular additives are known to raise uric acid levels so they can bring on an attack of gout. If you have a history of gout in your family, it shows a certain level of kidney weakness and you will be more sensitive to foods that raise uric acid levels. On that note, it’s always a good idea to do 3-6 months of gentle kidney cleansing as a way to recover and strengthen your body after you get the nasty 600’s out of your diet.

Hi
The things you have discuss and the pics you have displayed shares lot of similarities with me.
It all started to happen 7 yrs back thats after few years of me moving to Aus.
For first 3 years, I did not had a problem then i seem to have sleepless nights and red-face and mostly below lip redish..
Intially I thought it might be the shaving, so i changed the pattern and blades and started using cold water… Things were okay but problem persisted.. Every year the situation flares up (thats every year since last 7 years), going to specialist wont help, Trying flu tablets changing them gives some relief..
I am vegetarian and so i dont take flu shots.. but I have diary in my diet.
After speaking to many folks and tracking my patterns it was my conclusion, this happens during change of season – lower lip starts to get red, then it swells and then have bumps (not puss but kinda pimple and painful and eventually flare ups) – It was my realization may be post winter when plants starts to pollinate and grass tries to grow quicker – cows eating those same new fresh springly grasses which gets pass on to me causing me major issues…
I have no history of any allergies or ever had issues with pollen – may be since i moved from warmer place..
It has hit me hard and i feel really confused – no GP or specialized are able to help.. and i cant give up drinking milk or dairy…
Should i stop eating dairy – I am vegetarian and rely on Dairy.. Is it the grass growing in sping passing some pollens or something to cows via milk… am i allergetic.. i am so confused, this keeps coming randomly every year even sometimes in winter… !!!!

Continued, I gave my son Special K cereal yesterday and within 2 minutes his whole face flared up and was like that all day. Then I read the label on packet and it has Riboflavin and barley malt extract, he also had a BBQ chook with skin the night before. He scratched all night every night and where there isn’t a rash.

Hi Kath, You’re definitely into something with the BBQ chicken. The Special K could have had just enough inflammatory effect to blow up the skin from the food eaten the day before. Perfect breakfast for a child (and family): a healthy green smoothie! I’ve had so many parents client with children affected by these additives….their bodies are smaller and they simply cannot handle all the added chemicals in food. Cleaning out his diet now will prepare him for a healthy, happy childhood and life! Keep up the good detective work! My best, Jennifer

My son was diagnosed with eczema when he was 2years old and he is now 4.5years old and his skin is worse. We have to put strong cortisone creams on him every day plus ointment, his eyelids have been red and itchy for over 6 mths n

Hi Jennifer,
I have been randomly breaking out in a rash all over my face that looks very close to your pictures. It’s mainly around my eyes and mouth.

I live in Louisiana where seasoning is a way of life. I noticed the breakouts after I ate boiled crawfish on two separate occasions. Then I got a breakout after I ate things that are seasoned with Tony Chachere’s.

I know it is not the natural seasonings such as salt, red pepper, black pepper etc. because I have experimented with all. I do however, eat other foods listed on your site and do not get a breakout.

Do you think it is still possible I am allergic to this “new MSG” even if I don’t get a breakout every time I eat it?

Certainly there are different concentrations of ribonucleotides in different foods that use these additives. It may be that you are having a mild reaction now, and only reaction to the foods with higher concentrations. In my experience, over time people will usually become more sensitive and start reacting to all ribo foods. The rash becomes worse and starts to spread to more areas of the body. They may also start to experience heart palpitations as their reactions get more severe. So, please pay close attention to labels and try to avoid any foods containing suspicious ingredients. If you stop seeing any reaction, then you know that your condition was related to the food additives. Your quality of food will improve, and so will your health!

Dear Jennifer, I read your story and am so happy for you and so disappointed that you were not able to find a doctor to help you.
I am a very healthy woman that eats organic foods, walks the park
every morning with my dog and does not eat junk food. I never get
sick. Well, a few days ago i developed this itchy red rash on the out
side corner of both eyes. My eye lids itch also. I went to the doctor
today and she seemed puzzled. She gave me two prescriptions, one
for Loratadine 10mg and some eye drops that i will need to pick up
today. The eye drops cost $134.00 She said if it does not clear up in 5 days to come back and see her
Hope to hear from you, Godspeed, em

Hello Ester, I am very sorry to hear about your suffering. Legally, I cannot advise you against anything your doctor has prescribed. You can always make your own choices, check your food labels, look for ‘offending foods,’ and eliminate them from your diet while you are on the drops. If you read my latest article called ‘Why I don’t eat 90% of the ‘foods’ at WholeFoods‘, you may soon realize that you need to check all labels on all foods, forever and always. Your definition of ‘junk food’ and my definition of ‘junk food’ may indeed be very, very different.

WoW! I found your site after noticing burger king burgers made my face itchy 10 minutes after eating one. I have had bad itching and eczema for about 3 years now and could not work out what was causing it but i had a suspicion it was food/tobacco/alcohol/milk/wheat or yeast, but my experiments to find out didn’t bring me to a conclusion… All the foods on your list are ones that have been pesent in my diet when I have been itchy! i will give them a miss from now on and see how I go. I have a good feeling about this Thankyou 😀 (and thanks Google)

I just started a raw food diet after watching a few documentaries. “Forks over Knives” being one of them. I am 56 going on 57 this month and I had my annual physical and found out that my weight had ballooned by ten pounds. Since I have been on a raw foods diet (100%), I’ve lost 17 pounds, have energy to work out almost every day of the week (1 hour to 2 hours each work-out). I’m so excited about my new way of eating. I also am working on cutting out all caffeine. I’m down to one cup per day instead of 4-6 mugs. I sleep better…I’ve suffered from insomnia a few times per week, which left me exhausted during the day. I also stopped drinking (not a big drinker but enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner. Wine would just make me tired or make my face get red – how can that be good for you? Now, I get the same benefits as a glass of red wine by eating red grapes.

I know when I quit eating processed foods 5 years ago as well as eating vegan my skin problems disappeared. People started telling me my skin glowed. A LOT of my medical problems disappeared quickly and others over time. Non-processed foods are the way to go. I don’t have to wonder about what is in my food anymore. It’s fresh, whole and organic. So much easier way to live. 🙂

I have stopped ALL forms of processed food. The price i have to pay for that is not money (since cooking whole foods yourself is not expensive), but only looking weird and anal to some people.

But it is worth it! Everyday i chuckle at people eating chemicals and garbage while i feel good. I no longer have sinusitis, iches, and all the other problems. And survival seems like a done deal. It is about living at your best, allowing the full range of your genes to express themselves properly, and thus triving. I can even feel my neurons regenerating and my immune system is producing more adult stem cells to repair slow growing tissues.

Lets prove it to them who are the idiots who complain about the price of everything but yet eat expensive garbage and pay for expensive medical treatments that cannot solve their problems!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! It is a good laugh, it is a good life!

Thanks for your comment and congratulations on your transition out of de-vitalized foods. Hopefully the rest of the world will hear more and more stories like yours and understand how their health is totally related to and dependent on the quality of their food.

Initially it may seem like you are missing out, but believe me feeling good is so much better than the taste of any food! You can still eat processed food if you want of course, but stick to plain flavors – plain potato chips, plain rice crackers, hummus, plain tofu, etc. and realize that your body will feel better, your mind will be clearer, your emotions will be more stable and you won’t have an itchy awful rash and believe me there is no comparison – I would never want to have that rash again – it ruined my life for 2.5 years – I am more than surviving without them, I am thriving!! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion? Please be respectful of other participants in the conversation and keep your comments respectful, friendly and relevant. Differences of opinion are welcome, but trolling and abuse of other commentators and the Healthy Bliss team is not and will result in blacklisting. Thank you for keeping this a bully-free zone!

Shop Healthy!

Green Smoothies: Everything you need!

Your Career in Health!

Kitchen Awesomeness!

The Ultimate Detox

Get inspired!

Topics for a Healthier YOU!

Food for Thought

"If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep moving."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

About @healthybliss

Jennifer Thompson has been working with clean food, juices, smoothies and detox for over two decades to help people heal. Today, she shares her expertise worldwide, offering lectures, workshops, training and one-on-one consultations at various health and detox retreat centers. She provides Iridology Readings & Health Coaching via Skype and Phone to clients. When she’s not working, you’ll find her hiking in the mountains, walking along the sea or globe-trotting to a new health destination. >> Read More>

Follow Jennifer

Disclaimer

The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. Read full disclaimer here.